lol i love the phrase "promoting rugby league outside of australia" that's used so much. yet, every other international team is basically 2nd or 3rd grade NRL players. why would a kid in samoa, tonga, cook islands etc want to play rugby league when they know they're gonna get overlooked for NRL players anyway.

tig_prmz wrote:lol i love the phrase "promoting rugby league outside of australia" that's used so much. yet, every other international team is basically 2nd or 3rd grade NRL players. why would a kid in samoa, tonga, cook islands etc want to play rugby league when they know they're gonna get overlooked for NRL players anyway.

Agreed. But do they have a strong RL comp in places like Tonga and Samoa? Are there any local players to choose from? I know they have a strong RU background.

The concept of Tongan and Samoan national RL teams is a very artificial construct. Most of the players that represent Pacific Island nations were born in NZ or Australia or, if not, grew up in NZ or Australia, which is where they learnt to play RL.

So, I agree, I don't know how much this will promote RL in those countries.

The only Pacific nation to field a national team of home grown players is PNG, which is where the NRL should concentrate its promotional work.